FOI Reference: FOI/2022/4277

You asked

Following the correspondence with NHS England's Freedom of Information department I'd like to know if you have any information on:

  • Deaths per year from pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, bronchitis, exacerbation of COPD, heart failure and acute coronary syndrome registered count of deaths for 2020 and 2021 years that would also be much appreciated, per health authority.

  • In 2021 and 2022 the number of pulmonary embolism deaths where a stent had been fitted in the month before death, per health authority.

We said

Thank you for your enquiry.

Our mortality data is based on the information collected at death registration in England and Wales.  

We do not hold numbers of deaths from pulmonary embolism where a stent was fitted in the month before because this information is not recorded on the death certificate.

All of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). From all of these causes an underlying cause of death is selected using ICD-10 coding rules. The underlying cause of death is defined by WHO as:

a) the disease or injury that initiated the train of events directly leading to death, or

b) the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury

We have used the ICD-10 online lookup tool to identify the ICD-10 codes used to define the cause groups you have requested.  

  • Pulmonary embolism I26 - from the subcategory Pulmonary heart disease and diseases of pulmonary circulation (I26-I28)

  • Pneumonia J12-J18 - from the subcategory Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18)

  • Bronchitis J40-J42 - from the subcategory Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)

  • COPD J44 - from the subcategory Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)

  • Heart failure I50 - from the subcategory Other forms of heart disease (I30-I52)

  • Acute coronary syndrome I24.9 - from the subcategory Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)

Numbers of deaths by underlying cause (ICD-10 code), sex, five-year age group and area of usual residence, for England and Wales, 2013 to 2021, are available via the NOMIS webservice.

Please follow these instructions to use the NOMIS webservice:

  • Select the geography - (England and Wales, regional or by local authority)

  • Select Age - All ages or 5-year age bands

  • Select Gender - Total or Male/Female

  • Select rates - All deaths, rates or percentage of population for example.

  • Select cause of death (ICD10 code search is available)

  • Select format (Excel or CSV for example)

Latest provisional death registration data for England and Wales, 2022, are available in our weekly deaths publication, however, as data are still provisional, full cause of death information is not yet published except for the top ten leading causes of death, which are published in our monthly mortality analysis publication. Finalised death registration data for 2022 will be released in July 2023 in our Deaths Registered Series and NOMIS.

NOMIS includes data for England and Wales with breakdowns available by Region, Local Authority and Middle layer super output area (MSOA). However, NOMIS does not include mortality data by any health geographies, such as clinical commissioning group.

We can produce this for you for 2021 as a bespoke tabulation.  We can also include data for 2022 if you would like. However, please note this information is still provisional and subject to change. Bespoke tabulations of mortality data for England and Wales are subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs, where appropriate. Such enquiries can be made to Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.

If you would like to discuss this in any further detail, please feel free to contact health.data@ons.gov.uk.